User:Wayne Decatur/Moving Components or Parts of Structures

This describes how to do this in Pymol and assumes you initate a session with the console containing the menubar.

Using Pymol commands to do this in commands is described at the Modeling and Editing Structures page at the Pymol Wiki.

Manually:

To translate and/or rotate a separate chain (or object you made) within a solved structure relative other chains (or objects): Make the chain you want to move a separate object by selecting (for example, entering 'select chain d' on command line) and then using action menu next to that selection ('sele') for that selection to 'extract object'.

Lock objects to remain in place using 'action' on side menu and selecting 'movement' and 'protect' for each.

Under the 'Mouse' menu in the top console window, select 'three button editing' (or toggle this by clicking the words next to 'Mouse mode' in the bottom left corner.

At the bottom left corner of the viewer, toggle selecting 'Objects' or 'Molecules' by clicking the text next to 'Selecting' to toggle the correct choice.

Now activate the object you want and while hold down 'SHIFT', click left-button, middle-button, or right-button and drag to rotate, move in x and y plane or to move in z plane, respectively.

This is covered on the Modeling and Editing Structures page under 'Manual superposition of two molecules' near the bottom of the page; however it assumes there are already two objects.

To translate and/or rotate part of a chain in a structure relative the rest without: Select part to move and split it off from the original structure either using commands as outlined on the Modeling and Editing Structures page or by selecting the interested section (using sequence bar [ sequence under 'display' menu ] or selection commands) and making it a separate object????? VERIFY THIS AND EASIEST WAY TO NOT HAVE THAT PART DUPLICATED.???

Now you essentially do as in the first part to translate and/or rotate this object relative the other structural components. However, while the moving part won't simply be a separate chain, but a separate object to Pymol, most commands and actions are the same.

If you want to move parts of chains relative the rest no longer maintaining the original structural constraints, see my page on using Pymol to generate unfolded structures.

Supporting pages:
 * Modeling and Editing Structures page
 * Page with info on editing structures
 * Has some other information on moving elements relative others
 * Intro page with some help

Similar manipulations can be done with separate structures in SWISS-PDB viewer by toggling off movement in the layers control panel for the layer to remain in place.